Picket fence



Dec. 1l, 1956 A. FISCHER ET Al- PICKET FENCE 12,773,674 PICKET FENCE yAllenFscherzandfKarl 'A. BauridL-Jr.,

St. Louis 'CountypMm Application 'November 29, 1954,'sefi1No. 171,821

vs claims. 1 (ense-122) This invention pertains to af picket 'fencewhich"`rnay be constructed of metal, such as aluminum or Vthe like.

An object ffthis invention-istopvideance structure which may'beki'ire'fabricafed.Finseparate fence elements and which can be assembledin a simple manner lwithut the 1use 'f 'special tools.

' Another 'object `i's to 'p'rvidefsuchja fence structure b'ywhich'unskilled workmen may assemble the feic'feA easily Further objects willappear 'from the follwing'fdescription'taken'in connectiorwith the'accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a front view, partly brokenaway, of a fence constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2--2 of Fig. l, enlarged;

Fig. 3 is a section of one of the pickets on line 3-3 of Fig. 1,enlarged;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged front view of a shoe for connect- -ling the picketto the fence rail; and

Fig. 5 is a right-hand end view of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, a fence constructed in accordance with thisinvention comprises one or more, iusually two, horizontal fence rails 1supported on suit- :able upright posts 2. A series of pickets 3 isattached at Iegular intervals to the rail or rails 1 in uprightposition, :as shown in Fig. l.

Each of the pickets 3 is constructed of a wide strip of metal formed tothe shape shown in cross-section in Fig. 3. In this form, the middleportion of the strip is formed to provide a rectangular bead 4 havingside flanges 5 extending rearward from the front face of the picket.This structure forms the bead 4 as seen from the rear of the picket, ora channel as seen from the front. On both sides of this channel, sidewing portions 6 extend outward from the front edges of the anges 5.These wing portions are positioned at an angle to a horizontal plane, asseen in Fig. 3, or to the plane of the fence when the picket is mountedin its place in the fence. The side edge portions of the strip are bentto the rear to form rounded side edges 7 on the picket and rear angeportions 8. The inner edges of these flange portions 8 are substantiallyin the same plane with or slightly in rear of the rear face of the bead4 so as to make spring contact with the rail 1. The picket is formed tothe cross-sectional shape shown in Fig. 3 throughout its length,excepting at the top, which may be nished off to any desired contoursuch as a curve 9, Fig. l. This upper portion may also be flattened, asshown at 10, Fig. 2.

The horizontal fence rails 1 may be formed to a general box shape incross-section, as shown in Fig. 2, with the front edges turned in toform upper and lower anges 11, the rest of the front face being open.'Ihese rails may be attached to the posts 2 in any suitable manner, asby means of U-bolts 12. These posts may be any desired cross-sectionalshape, an ordinary square section being usual.

In order to attach the picket 3 to the rail 1, a shoe 20 United StatesPatent@l ice 2,773,67 4 ...Patented .flecf -1f 1, 16956is:provided,1tasshoivntin Fgs.l`4fa`nd 5. is a-r'ecs tangulara`r stripofmetalfarranged 1with its flong -:dimension horizontal and having itsupper and lower edgeflportions -fbentrearvi'ard'ftoformiiangesr 13.'Thesefanges are vfdimeh'sionedwto -tvvithin the rail 1 "and upagainstthe `#inner*faces "'offthe flanges 11 thereof. Just within'fthe`flanges v13, the edgeportions ofthe shoeare 'formed-With a slightoffset '14"towardlthe frear. The distance `of this g-.fo'isetprtionffrom therfront fface of the shoe 'is lslightly less than thethickness Fofthe metal ofl which the `A-rail P1 made. Foriexampleg'ifthefthickness:ofithef'inetal is i040 of arr-inch, the offset-.would be`aboutf.030 of an-inch. i'The` ipurpose'of'this will be explainedpresently. 'The :shoe 20 is longer thanthe width of the -pick'etl as`shown `vin Fig. 1.

'f-A 'rivetfhole 15- ist/formed vin tthe shoe L'at fabout `its noemer,as l'shown infFigs`I4. On each sideofthe rivet-hole 15, a bead 16 is"struck `inward orrtoward thev rear of '---thershoe-,. as. shown vinFigs.v 4 and 5. These'beads ex- -fftetidrtransverselyofthe shoe orvertically in 'thefiinished "dence,` I"IAlieir spacing from each otheris such that when *the shoe vis `attached tothe picket, `they willbefsubsta'ntia'lly aligned with'thefilangesl ofthe bead 4. i'A similarrivet'hole is formed in the .picket on the center line of 'the' bea'd1'4andtheshoe is attached to the picket'. by means of a rivet 17engagingfthesef holes whenaligned and securing the shoe rigidly to thepicket in a position extending transversely thereof, as shown in Fig. 1.

When the fence is erected, the rails 1 are mounted on the posts 2. Thepickets are then assembled to the rail 1 by inserting the shoe into therail 1 with the oiset portions 14 of the shoe behind the anges 11 of therail. The picket is then slid along the rail until the end of the shoecontacts the end of the shoe on the preceding picket. Thus the length ofthe shoe fixes the spacing of the pickets as the pickets are moved alongthe rails until their shoes are all in contact. Since the offset of theportion 14 of the shoe is less than the thickness of the flange 11, therear ange portion 8 of the picket which contacts the outer face of theange 11 opposite the portion 14 of the shoe will bear against the frontface of the ange 11 with a spring pressure produced by the resilientyielding of the wing portions 6 of the picket. Thus, each picket will bescurely held in place on the rail 1 by the friction produced by thisspring pressure. It will be seen that this invention provides astructure very easily assembled on the job. The rails may be mounted onthe posts 2 lirst, and then the pickets assembled, or a proper number ofpickets may be assembled on a pair of rails to form a finished sectionand then successive sections may be put in place by mounting the rails 1on the posts 2.

Since the shoes may swivel on the rivets 17, the rails may be set at anangle to the pickets, as when the fence is on a slope.

Various changes may be made in the details of con-` struction, Withinthe scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit ofthis invention. Parts of the invention may be used without the whole andimprovements may be added while retaining some or all of the advantagesof the invention.

We claim:

1. A picket fence, comprising a strip of sheet metal formed to provide apicket having a central bead extending therealong and inturned side edgeportions, a horizontally extending shoe secured to said picket at saidbead with its upper and lower edge portions engaging the side edgeportions of said picket, and a supporting rail having in-turned anges,said picket being attachable to said rail by inserting said angesbetween said edge portions of said picket and said shoe whereby saidanges are gripped by spring pressure of said edge portions.

-2. A picket fence, comprising, a sheet metal picket, a shoe longer thanthe width of said picket attached thereto to extend transverselythereof, and a supporting rail having means engageable by said shoes ofa plurality of pickets to support the picket, said shoes being'inend-toend engagement, their length iixing the spacing of the pickets.

3. A picket for a picket fence, comprising, a strip of sheet metalformed with a longitudinal channel along its middle providing a beadprojecting rearward therefrom,

and at side flanges along said strip having their edges bent rearwardinto U-forrn providing rounded side edges for the picket and rear angeportions positioned for spring contact with a rail engaging said bead. t4. A picket for a picket fence, comprising, a strip of v sheet metalformed with a longitudinal channel along its middle providing a beadprojecting rearward therefrom,

, and side anges along said strip bent rearward into U- form providingrounded side edges for the picket, and@ extending rearward to alignmentwith the same face of l said bead to make spring contact with a rigidsupporting fence rail also engaged by said bead.

5. A fence picket, comprising, a strip of sheet metal formed with arectangular middle channel therealong,

Aiiat side wing portions extending laterally from said chanqnel andangularly to the plane of the fence, and side zedge portions bentrearward and inward providing rounded edges for the picket andspring-contact members for #engaging the same face of a supporting railalso engaged .by Athe web portion of said channel.

6. In combination with a fence-picket formed with a beadprojectingrrearward therefrom, a mounting shoe, and means for clampingsaid shoe to said picket, said shoe being formed with a stiiening beadin alignment with the bead on said picket when said shoe is clamped bysaid clamping means.

7. A picket fence, comprising, horizontal rails of box form havingin-turned upper and lower front anges, a

series of pickets each formed of a strip of sheet metal References Citedin the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 43,644 Miller `luly 26,1864 338,818 Baird Mar. 30, 1886 353,328 Scarbes Nov. 30, 1886 1,164,643Hale Dec. 21, 1915 2,327,311 Lundy Aug. 17, 1943 2,607,563 RochesterAug. 19, 1952

